


It's You

by CrystalSnow1287



Category: Among Us (Video Game)
Genre: Kidnapping, Murder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:00:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28041300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrystalSnow1287/pseuds/CrystalSnow1287
Summary: Elizabeth wakes up in a concrete room with her friends after being kidnapped. A mysterious voice tells them that they will be playing Among Us in real life and have to fight and kill each other to survive. Who will remain?inspired by Among Us, Criminal Minds season 2 episode 7, and Criminal Minds season 8 episode 7
Kudos: 1





	It's You

**Author's Note:**

> I dreamed this up one night and decided I should make it into a short story. This is the first one I'm publishing, so positive comments or constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Thank you!!

Elizabeth woke in a cold, dark, stone room. How she got there, she wasn’t sure, but she was surely terrified. Looking around, she could make out a few things. A large iron door, one that was surely locked. A small rectangular hole in the wall that seemed to be a pipe of sorts. Bodies on the floor. Wait, bodies? All over the floor, she could see the black silhouettes of bodies, and she was just hoping that they weren’t dead.

Then, horrible fluorescent lights turned on overhead, blinding her for a second. A few people groaned at the sudden light before realizing they didn’t know where they were either. They all scrambled to their feet, looking around in confusion.

That’s when Elizabeth realized she knew all of them. Some were her friends, others she knew were in her grade level. She also realized they were in jumpsuits of some kind, then was horrified at the prospect of someone undressing them. Elizabeth was wearing a cyan suit.

James, one of her best friends. They met back in 7th grade and quickly became best friends, relating over their pasts and things that they struggle with. He was in dark blue.

Noah and Jason, two of James’s friends. They were quiet and always seen together. Jason was a hockey player at the school, and Noah was a soccer player. Honestly, she secretly liked him, but they never actually talked. They avoided her and seemed to always be having a silent conversation. Noah was in red while Jason was in grey.

Rodrigo, a peruvian and a well-built powerlifting athlete. He was on Elizabeth’s team for the Christmas volleyball tournament back in freshman year. He was always nice, but they don’t have a lot of classes together. He was wearing black.

Andy and Zac, more of James’s friends. Both soccer players, Andy, a really intelligent boy from China, was team captain on JV before and moved up quickly to Varsity. His height and long legs allowed him to be faster than others. Zac was probably one of the shortest people in their senior class, but he could surely pack a punch. Andy was in orange, and Zac was wearing lime green.

Angelo, another peruvian, was quiet, but always nice to her. He’s basically the human equivalent of a teddy bear. Actually he was dating Shan, Elizabeth’s other best friend. He’s in a brown jumpsuit.

While Angelo was a teddy bear, Shan was like a baby panda. Innocent, but she can be mischievous if she wants to. She and Elizabeth have been friends since 6th grade and are on the Varsity cheer team together. Fittingly, she’s in pink.

Emma was another one of Elizabeth’s friends since 4th grade. They always got along well. She was the only friend that stuck with Elizabeth when they went to high school, and their whole friend group decided to drop them so that they could join the more popular girls. They’ve been growing apart recently, but Elizabeth doesn’t know why. It hurts a bit, to say the least. She’s wearing yellow.

Bridget was one of the old friends. She and Elizabeth have been friends since kindergarten. Throughout all of school, Bridget would drive all of her friends away, ensuring that Elizabeth could only have her. She got worse and worse as they got older, but since Elizabeth didn’t have any other friends, she was stuck with her. Then, she decided over the summer before high school, she blocked Elizabeth’s number and pretended like they were never friends. She is in dark green.

Maggie, the nice kind of popular. Everyone knew and loved her, and she was one of the smartest people in the grade. She invited Elizabeth in her friend group when she was abandoned. Most of last school year, though, they didn’t talk much because of the lack of classes they had together.

Molly, an old friend of Elizabeth’s. They grew apart over time after she and Maggie had a falling out because of Molly’s competitiveness. She wears gold.

Sophie, a Korean girl and clarinet player in the band. She was really nice, but gets super stressed easily by assignments. She was in white.

With more observation, Elizabeth noticed they all had something around their necks. Shock collars, she realized with a start.

“What is this?” Bridget asked, seemingly annoyed.

“I don’t know,” Maggie whispered.

“Welcome to the game. I expect you all to play nice, and we’ll have a lot of fun,” a creepy voice whispered, seeming to come from everywhere and making everyone jump.

“Who are you? What do you want?” Rodrigo demanded.

“My identity does not matter. All I want is to play a game. You will go along with the game, or you will die.”

“Why should we listen to you?” Bridget yelled.

“Shut up,” Zac hissed.

“You refuse to listen? Oh well, I suppose you’ll just have to have an example.”

Suddenly, the collar around her neck exploded with electricity, but this was no ordinary shock collar. The pain was so intense it brought her to her knees, almost screaming with how bad it was. Tears fell from her eyes and ran down her face. Her hands scratched and pulled frantically at the collar, but it stayed on and kept shocking her. Honestly, it was more of electrocuting than shocking, because shocking at least would’ve been over before this. She could feel the electricity burning at her neck, suffocating her and filling her mind with nothing but pain.

“Stop it! We’ll do what you want! Just stop hurting her!” someone shouted, but in her pain ridden state, Elizabeth couldn’t tell who it was. Then, the collar stopped, but she could still feel the aftershocks from it. Her body shook and twitched every now and then from it. She gasped for breath.

“Is that a good enough reason for you? Or maybe I need to prove my point just a bit more.”

Two bangs were heard and two people fell to the floor: Sophie and Molly. Upon further inspection, a hole could be seen in each of their heads, dripping scarlet blood down their faces and pooling on the ground. They were shot. They were dead.

The panic was immediate. He killed two of them. Some people were frozen in shock, others were visibly panicking, others were hyperventilating.

“Now, let's get to the game. You have all played Among Us, haven't you? It works similar to that. There will be two imposters, of whom I will choose. Everyone else will search the building for keys. These keys will unlock doors, of which you will find out later. The imposters will kill you off one by one. When a body is found by someone, that person will say ‘report’ and I will tell everyone to meet back here for voting. When there are 5 people left, we will have a finale of sorts involving the keys collected, but that will be explained in time. I am dropping a box for each of you through the hole in the wall. You will find one with your name on it, which you will open when I tell you to. You are not to tell anyone what role you play, unless you are the imposter in which you may find and team with the other imposter. If you are a crewmate, your box will simply have a stone in it, which you will keep in your pocket and not use. The stone is to symbolize that you are a crewmate in the event that you are killed. The imposter’s boxes will have a knife in each, which you may use to kill the crewmates, along with a painted key which can be used to unlock passages that you can travel from room to room. Consider it as… venting, if you need a game reference. Now, we will begin. Collect your box and sit apart from each other facing the wall.”

On cue, boxes began coming out of the wall. They had tape with names on them. One by one, people found their boxes and sat at the wall. Elizabeth picked up her box and held it for a moment. Did she want to be an imposter, which seemed safer, but have to kill her friends, or be a crewmate and be hunted? She wasn’t sure what she wanted. Once they all were at the wall, the lights turned off.

“You may now open your box. Put the item hidden in your pocket.”

Holding her breath, Elizabeth opened up the box and felt around inside of it. She felt cold steel under her palm, and her heart sank when she realized she was an imposter. She had to kill her friends. But who was the other?

The lights turned on again, making everyone squint. Everyone was visibly nervous, shaking and paler than before. No one said a word. Most avoided eye contact completely. The iron door opened with a horrible creak.

“Everyone, go through the door. It is a small room, but all of you will fit.”

They all stepped through the door into a small space. They were all against each other, trying to fit. Looking up, she saw strange shower heads above them, but before she could say anything, they started spraying something. He thought it was water at first, but it was sticky, sticking to her face, her clothes, in her hair. Everyone was making sounds of disgust and surprise. When it shut off, she opened her eyes to see they were all covered in blood.

The voice laughed. “I can’t have you identifying who the imposters are because they’re covered in blood, so you all will be in blood.” The voice still laughed, as if our shock and horror were the most entertaining thing to him.

“You will all be released into the rooms as soon as the door opens. When it does, the game starts. Crewmates, go search for the keys. Imposters, happy killing.” Music played, which Elizabeth recognized as being part of the game when you find out what your role is. A normally overlooked sound now sends chills down her spine as she thinks of what is to come.

The door opened soon after, allowing them to go into the rooms. At first no one moved, but then people started emptying into the room. People split off into small groups or going off solo.

Elizabeth went off into a room by herself, trying to figure out what she was going to do. She really didn’t want to kill anyone, but there were a select few that she wanted to protect. She figures that she’ll walk around and find someone by themselves. As horrible as it was, the more people that died, the closer she got to getting out of this place. She put her hand in her pocket, feeling and adjusting the blade that she would have to strike down someone with, and then she left the room in search of another person.  
It took a few minutes of searching to find anyone. Wherever they were, it was huge. Then she saw movement in one of the rooms. It was Andy, in his blood covered orange jumpsuit. She took a deep breath and went in.

“Have you found any keys yet?” she asked him. He jumped when he heard her voice.

“No,” he mumbled, keeping a distance from her. “Have you?”

“I haven’t. This place is a maze.”

“Show me your stone.”

“Excuse me?” she said, confused.

“Each crewmate got a stone in their box to symbolize who they are. Show me yours, unless you’re the imposter.”

“How do i know that it isn’t you?”

He pulled a stone out of his pocket. “Now show me yours.”

“I don’t want to break the rules-” She was cut off when he slammed into her, knocking her against the wall. He reached into her pocket, but she fought his hands away. They struggled back and forth, throwing each other into things in the room. She knew she had to act fast, or else someone would hear the commotion and see her. So she reached into her pocket and pulled out the knife.

“You- you're the imposter,” he stammered.

“I’m sorry, Andy,” she said before she threw herself into him, stabbing him in the stomach repeatedly. Again and again and again she lodged the knife into his stomach and chest. He fell to the ground, blood pooling around him. He gasped for breath, struggling to stay alive.

“Help me,” he gasped. Tears rolled down both their faces. Elizabeth kneeled down next to him and ran her fingers through his hair gently before she took the knife and cut open his throat, ending his pain faster.

Grief started consuming her. He was someone’s friend, someone’s son, someone’s brother, and she killed him. She laid his body down more comfortably, folded his hands, and closed his eyes. But still, it was too hard to look at, so she found a blanket in the mess of the room and covered him.

She heard voices outside the room, approaching slowly. Panic took over her and she looked around the room. Elizabeth spotted what looked like a grate of sorts against the wall, held closed by a lock. She dove down to it, took out her painted key, and opened it. It was dark and only large enough for her to crawl through. Not wanting to stick around, she crawled until she found an empty room that she could leave the vent. Then the voice was heard again.

“A body has been reported. Your shock collars will help you navigate to the room where I will give further instruction.”  
Elizabeth wondered what he meant by the collars navigating them, but she soon found out. She left the room and initially went left but then turned right when she felt the collar give her a small shock. A few minutes and minor shocks later, she and the others made their way to the room where his body lies.

“Andy…” Zac trailed off. The pain, grief, and fear written on the faces of everyone in the room made her eyes tear up again.

“Everyone sit in a circle around the body.” After everyone was situated, he continued. “Discuss who you think is the imposter, then I will return for you all to vote someone out. You may not skip voting, or you will be out. Also, you cannot ask for someone to show the contents of their pockets or show yours. Now the discussion will begin.”

“Who found the body?” James asked.

“Emma and I did,” Maggie said quietly.

“Did you see anyone?”

“No, the room was empty when we came in,” Emma told them.

“How do we know it’s not you?” Zac accused.

“We were with each other the whole time,” Maggie tried to defend herself with.

Maggie is really smart. She could figure out easily that it is me. I have to get her out somehow.

“There are two imposters,” Elizabeth pointed out. “It is possible for the two to stick together to take out people.”

“What proof do you have that it’s us?” Maggie argued.

“What proof do you have that you're innocent?” Zac shot back.

“It seems like many of you have come to a decision on who you are voting for. We will go around in a circle and everyone must name a person that they want to vote for. No skipping, everyone must vote for a person. You may start voting.”

“Well I know I’m not the imposter, so I’m voting Zac.”

“Zac,” Emma said, agreeing with Maggie.

“Maggie,” Zac voted.

“Maggie,” Rodrigo said.

“James,” Noah told him.

“James,” Jason said in agreement. Even when they would play Among Us, those two would vote out James all the time for no reason.

“Noah,” Angelo said.

Shan of course was going to agree with Angelo. “Noah.”

“James,” Bridget said. Elizabeth got angry at her. Bridget has hated James ever since Elizabeth became friends with him for no reason other than she was jealous and wanted Elizabeth all to herself. That’s why Bridget always drove away Elizabeth’s other friends.

“Maggie,” James voted.

“Ooh, down to cyan, I like it. It’s always interesting when all the pressure rests on one person. Blue has three votes. Purple has three votes. Red has two votes. Lime has two votes. If there would be a tie, all the people that had the most votes would be out. Choose wisely, cyan.”

She looked around at everyone there. If she would vote for Noah or Zac, then three people would be out. She knew she could never hurt James so she made up her mind, even if it ends up getting a potentially innocent person killed.

“Maggie,” she said, voice wavering slightly.

Everyone jumped when a gunshot was heard. Maggie slumped down to the ground, blood forming a puddle underneath her and dying her blonde hair crimson.

“Now back to the game.”

“Wait! Won’t you tell us how many imposters are left?” Bridget demanded.

“No, I will not. You better watch yourself green before you end up with a bullet to the head.” That made her go quiet fast.

People started leaving the room in search of more keys or, in Elizabeth and the other imposter’s case, victims. They’re down to ten people including her. Elizabeth figured now it is best to kill swiftly and quickly and leave through a vent. It’s best not to risk being spotted by someone. There still could be another imposter remaining. When she was sure that she was alone, she used her key to unlock the vent and crawl inside.

As she was looking for someone by themselves, she saw a bright color. She gazed through the vent and was shocked at what she saw. A body was on the ground.. It was Emma. That means Maggie wasn’t an imposter and there is someone else out there that could hurt her friends. Her eyes teared up, but she had to keep moving. That’s when she looked into another room and saw Rodrigo alone, searching for a key with his back turned towards her.

Quietly, she crawled out of the vent and left it just barely open so she could make a break for it. Elizabeth snuck up behind him and quickly grabbed him.

“Wha-” was all he was able to say before Elizabeth cut his throat. He fell to the ground, his hands grabbing at his neck then pulling away just as fast to see they were covered in blood. He looked up at her, eyes filled with emotion.

“I’m sorry,” she choked out. “But I have people I need to protect.”

After a few seconds, he stopped gasping for breath, hands falling to the floor. She held back a sob and knelt down to close his eyes before making her way back to the vent. As she was crawling, the voice returned again.

“A body has been reported. Make your way to the room for voting.”

Using the shock collar, she started making her way to the room. She wondered who was found, but soon they would all find out. When she got there, it wasn’t the black uniform of Rodrigo, but rather the yellow of Emma. They sat in a circle and started discussing.

“Who are we missing?” Shan asked.

“Where’s Rodrigo?” Elizabeth said suddenly, trying to play the part. People gasped in surprise. Two people were killed.

“No one is missing. Begin discussions.”

Now everyone knew Rodrigo was killed as well as Emma.

“Zac, you were the one that was arguing Emma and Maggie and now they're dead,” Noah said lowly.

“I didn’t kill them! I haven’t seen them,” he told them.

“Who were you with then?” James asked him.

“I was with Rodrigo- oh…” Zac trailed off.

“You’re the imposter?” Elizabeth asked, trying to sound a little fearful. She realizes how close she was to getting caught if Zac was with Rodrigo. That could’ve ended really quickly for her.

“No, I swear it’s not me. You have to believe me,” he pleaded.

“It’s time for the vote.”

Going around in the circle, everyone voted for Zac, while he voted for Noah. Elizabeth looked away as Zac was shot by the man who captured them.

“Is that it? Did we get the imposters?” James asked.

“Not quite,” the voice laughed. “The game is just getting good.”

“You won’t get away with this! The police will find you!” Shan yelled at him.

The man laughed again. “Maybe. But not before I watch you all die. And I will enjoy every second of it.” His voice, his words, his game, everything about this made Elizabeth feel sick. But at least she’s the only imposter left. At least, she thinks so. Zac seemed like a likely candidate, but wouldn’t he have killed Rodrigo? Unless he was busy with Emma. Or he wasn't an imposter.

“To make this a little more interesting, I am putting another rule in place. From this point on, you must travel alone. No groups, no duos, alone. Happy hunting.”

That’ll make her job a bit easier. She travelled around for a few minutes, trying to find out who will be next. She then found Jason in a room alone, and made up her mind. She had to be careful because she’d have a hard time if it came down to a fight between them.

So she used the same strategy she used for Rodrigo. She snuck up behind him and went to cut his throat. When she grabbed him, he hit her backwards.

“You. You’re the imposter.”

“I’m sorry, Jason,” Elizabeth said before she went after him again. They struggled with the knife, going back and forth before he managed to push her off again.

“You got them killed,” Jason snarled at her. “And Andy and Rodrigo. Did you kill them too?”

“I didn't want to,” she begged. “I want to get out of here just as much as you.”

“Then I suppose one of us will have to die.”

Elizabeth refocused her gaze on him. She knew he had hurt his leg in a hockey game, so she’d have to use that to her advantage. His balance would be off. She charged into him again, and when he went to push back, she kicked at his leg, throwing off his balance and allowing her to take him to the ground.

She stabbed him three times in the chest and stomach before he grabbed the knife and drove it into her stomach. Elizabeth cried out and staggered back, pulling the bloodied knife out of her abdomen.

Jason started dragging himself out of the room, trying to find help. Thankfully she was on an adrenaline rush and was able to go back after him, slicing cleanly through his neck and killing him. She then took off running.

Elizabeth found a room that seemed to be unsearched. She found a piece of fabric that she tied under her jumpsuit, slowing the bleeding. She wrapped it and another piece of fabric around her a few times. She knew it wasn’t good being weakened, it would make it harder to fight. She then went off in search of another. She was trying to decide who would be next when she heard a crash. Well that made her decision easier. But who would’ve been careless enough to make noise this far into the game?  
When she found the noise, she was shocked. James was standing with his back to her and on the ground was Bridget. Holding a knife. Bridget was the other imposter. All this time she thought it was others, but she never considered Bridget. Of course it's her. Ever since they were young, Bridget would drive away her other friends, and now she’s killing off her remaining friends.

Elizabeth saw red as she barreled herself into Bridget. Bridget screamed at her, but Elizabeth didn’t even notice. They both grabbed their knives and went after each other. She was done. All the aggression and frustration and stress was all coming out now. Bridget was a threat. She was going to hurt Elizabeth and her friends. Not anymore, not if she could help it. Hair was pulled, punches thrown, knives gleaming. She drove her knife into the body underneath her and vaguely noticed that Bridget lodged the knife in Elizabeth as well. Elizabeth kept stabbing Bridget, needing to make sure that she couldn’t hurt her friends. Bridget took her hand and clawed nail marks across the side of Elizabeth’s face before her hand fell limp.

Elizabeth was pulled off of Bridget’s unmoving body. She gasped for breath, exhaustion and pain mixing together with the panic attack that was rising up inside her.

“Elizabeth, listen to me. She’s gone. You’re okay,” James told her. But no, nothing’s ok. In a few hours, she’s lost nine people, four of which she killed and two more she voted for and died. James kept talking to her, which eventually got her to calm down enough to make her insides stop burning and she could see again.

At the door stood Noah, Angelo, and Shan. Angelo and Noah were trying to hide the tears in their eyes while Shan was openly crying.

“I’m sorry,” Elizabeth cried. “I’m the imposter. I’m a monster. I killed Andy, Rodrigo, Jason, and now Bridget. And I voted for Maggie and Zac and now they're dead. I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to do it.”

“It’s not your fault. You didn’t ask to do this, and Bridget would’ve killed me if you didn’t stop her.”

“What now?” Shan asked. “No one has won yet.”

Elizabeth used James to help her get up, but her weakness had her leaning against the wall. “What happens next is I die.”

“No, why?”

“This whole time all I could think of is keeping you all safe. I didn’t want to kill anyone but I had to make sure the other imposter was dead first.”

“Why did you keep me?” Noah asked.

“I- I liked you. I still do, I guess, not that it’s important anymore. Either I kill all of you but one or I die and you all can be let go.”

“You can’t die. I won’t let you,” they pleaded.

“I’m dying already,” she said and showed her stomach. Three holes were visible in the formerly cyan, now scarlet, uniform. “Jason stabbed me once and Bridget got me twice.”

“I think it is about time for the finale. You will be guided to a new room where you will await further instruction.”

They stood still until they all got a shock from the collars. They gave a look to each other before they traveled together to a new room. Their collars guided them down the hall and a few turns up to a door she hasn’t seen before. They stopped in front of it and it opened into a large open room with locked cabinets. The five of them stood in the center of the room, looking around in confusion.

“This is where I alter the game a bit more. A finale must be interesting right? Crewmates, take out the keys you’ve collected and put them on the floor. Each player takes one key that corresponds to a cabinet where you will acquire the contents. Let’s finish those shelves first, shall we?”  
Shan, Angelo, James, and Noah took out the keys they had gathered and spread them on the floor. Shan picked a white, elegant looking key and went over to a white china cabinet that had glass painted so it was impossible to see the contents. Angelo picked a dark golden key and went to the corresponding cabinet. James picked a large brass key that went to a dark wooden curio cabinet, also with the glass painted over. Noah took an almost black key that went to an equally dark case. After looking at the remaining options, Elizabeth took a key that looked as if it were made of glass. It corresponded to a white and glass case that would have been beautiful if not for the paint covering the glass.

“You may not open your cabinets. Take the contents.”

Following the orders, they inserted the keys into the lock and opened the doors. Elizabeth heard gasps behind her and turned to look at the others. Theirs were full of weapons. She then looked at hers, but there was nothing there.

“It’s empty,” she said fearfully.

The voice laughed at her. “I suppose you picked the wrong key, cyan. That will put you at a disadvantage. You may use your knife that you received in your box as an imposter. As you all see, the cabinets have weapons inside of them. These you will use to fight each other to the death. Either kill the imposter or she will kill all but one of you.”

Elizabeth knew she wouldn’t make it. Everyone else had weapons of larger proportions compared to the small knife she had. She looked at the bloody knife that rested in her hands, turning it over and seeing the drying blood of so many people she hurt. Only one has to die here, and it has to be her.

So she turned the blade towards her, taking in another look at her remaining friends. They looked back at her, sadness and fear written clear across their faces.

“Live for me, and tell their families I’m sorry,” she asked of them, tears rolling down her face.

Elizabeth gripped the knife tightly with both her hands and drove it into her stomach as hard as she could. She had to die to save them. That’s all she could think of as she twisted the knife, causing even more internal damage than the three other stab wounds, still bleeding, had caused. She then fell to the ground and heard footsteps running towards her. Two pairs of hands propped her up against the cabinet.

“Elizabeth, I…” someone said before trailing off. Elizabeth wondered why they stopped talking, but then she heard it: sirens. Not just any sirens, police sirens. She heard heavy footsteps of many people echoing in the building as well as shouts of the teams sent in. But in her panicked mind, she didn’t recognize it as help coming, she thought it was more people coming to kill her. Her vision was becoming fuzzy as more and more blood left her body and seeped into her clothes. She vaguely felt the hands of her friends being pulled off her and the voices of many people.

All she could think of is the voice of the unknown man that caused them so much pain and suffering.

Elizabeth felt strong hands on her, which only furthered her panic. She tried to fight them off, but there only was more after those. They were pressing on her wounds, causing a lot more pain in her abdomen. She again tried to push those hands away, but then felt more people come and hold her down and restricting her movement. She kept thinking that they were going to kill her and her friends.

“No,” Elizabeth tried to scream at them, but it was only a whisper due to her weakness.

They picked her up and set her on something, which later she would realize was a stretcher. Then she felt herself being restrained at her arms, legs, and any part of her body that was still trying to fight off the people that were hurting and scaring her.

“Stop, please. Don’t kill me, please stop it. Go away, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Please stop,” she kept crying, her existing panic building up higher and higher. She then felt a pinch in her arm before everything faded away.

*****

Elizabeth went in and out of consciousness a few times, each time she would cry and demand to see her friends until they would put her out again. Time was incomprehensible for her. When she was awake, all she could do was panic, and when she was unconscious, all the world was empty. Some time later, she wasn’t sure how long, she was awake once again.

She tried to look around, but restaurants held her down. Before she could panic, a familiar face managed to stop her.

“Noah?” she whispered.

“Yeah,” he whispered as well with tears brimming in his eyes. “It’s me.”

“Where are the others? Are they alright? What happened t-”

“Slow down, it’s okay,” he cut her off, not allowing her to go in a panic again. “Everyone is here in the hospital. Some minor injuries, but they're all alright.”

“Hospital…?” Elizabeth trailed off, getting a good look around. This is the first time it really registered to her where they were. “What happened? How did we get here?”

“After you… you know, he told us that he wanted the rest of us to fight. Only one can remain.” He paused and shuddered, no doubt thinking back to everything that happened. “We refused at first, but he said then he’d rack down our families and kill them. Then we heard the sirens. He tried to shoot us all, but the police got there first. Paramedics came in and got us all out and brought us here.”

“What about the man? Who was he?”

“He’s dead,” Noah said with a sigh. “The police killed him as soon as he started shooting at us.”

“But who was he?”

“The head custodian at our school.”

Thinking back, Elizabeth knew exactly who he was. Due to him altering his voice, she wasn’t able to place it until now. She remembers seeing him watching the group of them before or after school when they’d be in the cafeteria before heading to their practices. And once she was stuck after school for a few hours for a meeting with the athletic director when she fell asleep. The custodian touched her shoulders to wake her up, more of scaring her awake. Having a face to place with the voice still makes him frightening.

“I want to see the others,” she asked of him.

“The doctors said only one can be in here right now.”

“I don’t care what they say. I have to see them too.” He nodded after a second and went to leave them room.

“Please don’t leave me. I don’t want to be alone,” she said quietly.

“I promise I’ll be right back,” he told her with a small, sad smile.

As soon as the door shut behind him, the silence caused her anxiety to start to rise. It was so quiet, causing her to think of the silence in the rooms before she took the life of too many people. Tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to spill over when the door opened once again. The four of them came in with only a few small bandages.

“You… you’re all alright,” she wanted to cry with the relief of it.

“How are you feeling?” James asked.

“A little sore, but much better now that you guys are here.” Noah helped her sit the bed up since she was having trouble moving after the surgeries and recovery period. He also took off the stabilizers that were keeping her in place, shrugging when asked if he was allowed to do that.

“We gave our accounts to the police, but they say that yours can wait until you’re ready. Don’t worry, no one is putting blame on you for what happened,” he added when he saw her worried look.

“Thank you all for everything. I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without you,” she confessed to them.

They all went in closer to her and hugged her, whispering words of support. Whatever would happen in their recovery process, it can’t be bad if she still has them with her.

“We’ll always stay together…”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for giving my story a chance. I hope you enjoyed it. Stay happy and healthy!!


End file.
